Business Analysis In Action

Business Analysis is an open discussion, an attempt to find a solution to the business problems. Unfortunately, there is no universal recipe for a successful business and Business Analysts are here to help. In this digest, you’ll read about the phases of interaction with the clients and find out what are business analyst responsibilities and who are business analysts at all.

Before we begin, let’s find out what are business analysts necessary for. They are an essential part of product development as they find the niche your product will fit in and help you earn money by satisfying the demand of the target buyer audience. By the way, if you wanted to ask “Can business analyst be outsourced?” the answer is “Yes” and that’s what Inoxoft does – we offer the services of our finest BAs to help your business grow. But if you want to ask “Can business analysts work from home?”, the answer won’t be same.

How Does Business Analyst Work?

The process of cooperating with the BA differs from company to company and each Business Analyst decides what is best for their clients and what can be changed during the process. Nevertheless, there are three following stages of the cooperation with the BA. This article will answer the common questions asked by the clients.

Let’s have a look at the crucial phases of Business Analysis process and see what new can a BA specialist bring to your business.

Initiation Phase

As soon as you approach a company and agree to use the services of the BA, you will have a conversation. There is a common situation when the client imagines a more complicated or costly business transformation. So, what will business analyst do? The BA’s responsibility here is to render the most suitable solution for the client’s business.

Each business wants to be successful, however, success means different things to different businesses. Thus, the first focal point is finding the success criteria of the client. A success criterion is what the client considers to be the driving force of the business. For instance, the in-time rendition of a product, high-quality service, or the improved internal business processes can serve as the success criterion. So, the BA draws two pictures: the “as is” and the “as to be” states of a particular business. The first meeting results in the written requirements and a signature of the client.

The BA begins a dynamic process of the market survey where he/she seeks for the similar business problems and estimates the solutions. Comparing and contrasting all the possible successful analogs and experiences, the BA collects the most efficient techniques and solutions that adhere to the success criteria of the client to proceed with the mockup preparation.

Then follows the Use Case and User Story preparation. Basically, the Use Case is what can be described as wearing the user’s shoes: the BA imitates the use of the computer or mobile application in different situations. Why would a client appreciate the Use Case? Because it organizes the functional requirements, models the interactions between the user and the system, and describes the basic and exceptional flow of events.

What will business analyst do next? Ideation or a Solution Design

During the second phase, the BA is occupied with the data structurization and making more mockups. Traditionally, they are made to show the stakeholders the simplified version of the end product. Here, it’s good to use the UML or BPMN to make the results more visual and flexible.

Imagine that you have requested a mobile application that helps you to order the food from the nearest restaurants. All you have is an idea and what your BA does is builds the map with the User Story that shows the navigation of the user within the application. Using the power of the product visualization, the BA shows how you can work with an application showing how to find a particular dish, see what restaurant prepares it, read the restaurant’s rate and testimonials, compare the prices, track the delivery time, and choose how to pay for the order. And during all this, you can tell what should be changed and what should remain.

The BA’s job is not to make sure that the contractor can meet the expectations of the client concerning the time limitations, costs, human resource, and design. Also, BA is the one who predicts the possible pitfalls and explains the risks.

Business Modeling

After the client sees a mockup or a User Story, he/she can provide a feedback and make the changes. As soon as the model of an application is agreed, the BA ordinates the process of Requirement Agreement. The agreements are put on the paper and signed by the client and the contractor. This stage assures that both sides guarantee to meet the expectations listed in the agreement.

Finally, the Agreed requirements are being sent to the contractor and later, are discussed in more details with the presence of the two parties. Basically, the BA is all about the construction of the highly competitive and functional product that does not duplicate the analogs.

What are business analyst responsibilities?

Clarify the BA requirements and defining the specifications of configurations
List the requirements for alerting and reporting
Develop and maintain relations with the partners
Assist in designing, maintaining, and documenting the system process
Create the recommendation guide for the product team
Share the findings and key insights to the developers
Find the best way to improve the delivered value to the customers

Favorite Asked Questions:

Do business analysts do testing?

Usually, they don’t. Although a profound understanding of testing techniques is required, this part of product development is handed to the QA departments.

Do business analysts need to know programming?

It is highly advisable, but it does not stand out as the primary requirement.

How much do business analysts make?

Depends on the requirements and duration of the service provision.

What are business analyst tools?

Read about the business analysis tools in the upcoming article.

Do business analysts report to project managers?

Yes, they share the information concerning the updates and requirements in order to help the PMs effectively organize the cooperation with the client and the time of each involved developer individually.

Who would a business analyst report to?

The business analyst reports directly to a Line Manager and indirectly to a Project Manager or Project Sponsor.